Musical toy



March 25, 1941.

M. RICH, JR

MUS ICAL TOY Filed Dec. 23, 1940 Patented Mar. 25, 1941 PATENT OFFICE 2,236,381 MUSICAL 'roY Maurice Rich, J r., Clinton, Iowa, assignor to Rich Manufacturing Company, Clinton, Iowa, a corporation of Illinois Application December 23, 1940, Serial No. 371,244

3 Claims.

My invention relates to a two-tone musical toy adapted to be self-operated when attached to an oscillatable support such as a doll cradle, rocking horse, shoofiy, etc. The toy itself may also serve a useful purpose in that a person within earshot is definitely apprised concerning use of the cradle, rocking horse, etc., that is responsible for operation of the toy. The toy itself is simple to produce and attach, its operation involves no thought or attention on the part of the user, and it may be depended upon to withstand any and all of the usual conditions of use.

A suggestive embodiment of this invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawing where- Figure 1 is a side elevation of a rocking horse to which is attached the musical toy;

Fig. 2 is a detail in section, on an enlarged scale, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is also a detail in section, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of the bell mounting.

By way of example I have shown in Fig. 1 .an oscillatable support in the form of a hobby horse of conventional form comprising a body B supported upon bowed rockers R. With such a piece of equipment the present musical toy is desirably associated.

As shown, the toy comprises a base 5 preferably in the form of a sheet metal strap having one or more openings 6 through which screws 1 or other fastening elements may be inserted for attachment to the horse body whereby to mount the toy fixedly in place. The strap base in its intermediate region is formed with a runway 8 wherein a ball 9 is free to roll, the ball being confined during such movements by a U-shaped guide In which provides, in effect, a tunnel. Such a guide may be struck up from the strap itself, as suggested in the drawing, or be produced in any other suitable way.

Just beyond each end of the runway the base is turned through or so to provide two bracket arms ll each terminating in an out-turned ear l2 through which is a hole [3 for receiving a rivet M, or other fastening device, which is adapted to traverse the central opening in a gong bell l5 whereby it is secured in place. The two bells, each of dome shape, may give off unlike tones, a difference in their diameters being sufiicient to accomplish this purpose. The spacing of the two bracket arms from the runway is such that the mounted bells present their margins sufficiently close to the tunnel ends to prevent escape of the ball therefrom.

In use, the toy is aiiixed to a movable support such as the rocking horse which is shown. It is expected that the runway will be extended substantially horizontally when the support is in its normal position of rest. With each movement forwardly and rearwardly the position of the toy is correspondingly changed so that the runway is inclined first one way and then the other. In each of these movements the ball rolls, by gravity, to the end which is lower to strike the margin of the proximate bell. On the return movement the ball will roll to the opposite end to strike the other bel1.. In this way an alternate sounding of the two bells, preferably of unlike tones, accompanies the motion that is imparted to the support.

The present toy has numerous advantages from the standpoint of compactness, dependability, appearance, etc. The mounting strap is exposed to view only within the limited space between the two bells. Its turned ends, providing supporting brackets, terminate in small ears 12 each adapted to fit within the dome of one gong. The area of contact between each bell and its engaging ear is relatively small, being confined to the center of the dome so that there is little or no impedance to the sound vibrations. The connections between the bells and their mountings are wholly hidden within the domes of the bells whose margins extend close to the support, such as the rocking horse side, whereon the toy is mounted. In addition, the margins of the bells which lie outwardly only a slight distance beyond the proximate ends of the runway afford stops for the ball which is rollable therein. The ball is thus confined within the tunnel which overlies the runway so as to be incapable of escape therefrom. Since the ball is the only movable part of the toy, and its motion is confined to the tunnel which provides an elongated enclosure therefor, there is no possibility of tampering with the ball, or of interfering with its normal striking operation, when the toy is tilted to operate in the manner heretofore described.

I claim:

1. A musical toy in which is comprised a pair of spaced gong bells having their axes in parallelism, a common mounting for the two bells consisting of a strap formed near its opposite ends with parallel arms each terminating in an upturned ear adapted to fit within and engage the dome centrally within one gong bell, means connecting each bell at a central point fixedly the associated ear, a runway extending along the strap between the two bells forming a confining tunnel open only at its two ends opposite the bells with whose margins it lies in closely spaced relation, and a ball rollable within the runway and confined to movements in a straight line therewithin adapted to strike the margin of one bell at the end of each of its rolling movements.

2. A musical toy in which is comprised a pair of spaced gong bells of unequal diameter having their axes in parallelism, and their margins in a common plane, a common mounting for the two bells consisting of a strap formed near its opposite ends with parallel arms each terminating in an upturned ear adapted to fit within and engage the dome centrally within, one gong bell, means connecting each bell at a central point fixedly to the associated ear, a runway extending along the strap between the two bells forming a confining tunnel open only at its two ends opposite the bells with whose margins it lies in closely spaced relation, and a ball rollable within the runway and confined to movements in a straight line therewithin such that, at its point of greatest diameter in parallelism with the runway, it is adapted to strike the margin of one bell at the end of each of its rolling movements.

3. In a combination with a support movable in a vertical plane, a musical toy comprising a mounting, means forming a longitudinal tunnel centrally of the mounting, means connecting the mounting to the support with the tunnel extending normally in a horizontal direction thereupon, a ball adapted to travel back and forth through the tunnel with each alternate movement of the toy, ears formed at the ends of the mounting, and bells of varied diameter secured to the ears adapted to stop the travel of the ball at the ends of the tunnel.

MAURICE RICH, J12. 

